, the more active of the two general NK cell genotypes. After two expansion and activation steps, the resulting NK cells then undergo a quality control process to maintain batch-to-batch consistency., in combination with the CD20 inhibitor rituximab, in patients with B cell NHL, but the combination with AFM13 will require a separate investigational new drug approval from the US Food and Drug Administration before it can be tested in patients.
Rezvani’s team is about to move two more NK cell therapies into clinical trials. One, in development for glioblastoma, comprises NK cells edited with CRISPR–Cas9 to no longer express the genes encoding the cytokine TGF-β, which plays an immunosuppressive role in glioblastoma, and the glucocorticoid receptor, which mediates the lymphotoxic effects on the transplanted cells of glucocorticoids administered to patients who develop edema.